5 Children's Books That Help You Learn English

This past Sunday was International Children’s Book Day, which means that people across the globe were reading and celebrating their favorite books from their childhood. But what makes children books so successful and why do we still love them as adults? The stories are whimsical and the language is simple and repetitive, which means that these types of books ideal for anyone who is learning English.

Reading is a great way to exercise your mental muscles. Children books are written for beginners, so this is a great place to start if you want to build your reading comprehension skills – then you can move onto the harder books! Take a look at our list of some of our favorite children's books for English learners.

1.Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown

Difficulty: Easy

This book is a charming story of a bunny saying goodnight to everything in its bedroom. The language is simple yet descriptive – most of the sentences only consist of 2 or 3 words. It is probably the easiest book on this list. The story repeats the same sentence structure throughout, but with different vocabulary, which is a great trick for training your brain to understand the meaning of a word.

2.The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

Difficulty: Easy

This story is about a caterpillar that eats too much junk food and decides to switch to a healthy diet before turning into a butterfly. It’s a great book for learning and understanding key English terms, like numbers, days of the week, and types of food. This book also uses repetition often throughout.

The books have simple language and the stories are full of charm – what's not to love?

3.The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein

Difficulty: Medium

Shel Silverstein is a popular American poet and children’s book writer. This is probably one of his most famous children’s books because of the simple yet meaningful story. The Giving Tree is about a boy who relies on the help of a tree throughout different stages of his life. The language is easy to follow and the message is clear, making it a very good book for beginners. This book is a bit more difficult than the previous two because it has a more defined plot, which helps train your sense of meaning comprehension.

4. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

Difficulty: Hard

Also adapted into a movie, this book is full of imagination. The story is about a boy named Max who gets in trouble and has to go to his room, where a magical forest suddenly grows and he meets huge monsters named the Wild Things. Although the style of this story is still pretty simplistic, some of the vocabulary is a bit more advanced. This is a great book for learning higher-level words and grammar and advancing your skills beyond the basic level.

5. The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss

Difficulty: Hard

Probably Dr. Seuss’ most famous children’s book, The Cat in the Hat is a fabulous story about a mischievous cat that shows up when two children are home alone, making a terrible mess of the children’s house. This is definitely the longest book on the list, but it is excellent for learners because of its diverse vocabulary. The Cat in the Hat is perfect for anyone looking to expand their vocabulary skills.

Have you read any of these books before? Do you have any favorite children books you would like to share for our ESL learners? Let us know in comment section below!

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